


Cutie at the Cat Cafe

by ByTheBi



Category: Free!
Genre: Cafe AU, Cats, M/M, clumsiness and embarrassment for poor Ai
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-10
Updated: 2014-07-10
Packaged: 2018-02-08 07:12:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,902
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1931517
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ByTheBi/pseuds/ByTheBi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Fic request fill for tumblr user lydiakittya "AU where Rin works at a cat cafe and Aiichirou is dragged in on coincidence, despite being terrified of cats."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Cutie at the Cat Cafe

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally posted on my tumblr, but I decided to move it onto AO3 as well to share.

“Are you sure about this, Nagisa-kun?” Aiichirou asked anxiously as the blond dragged him down the busy streets.

“Trust me, Ai-chan! This place is the best. It has the tastiest strawberry shortcake ever, and the service is pretty great too,” he said with a wink.

Aiichirou sighed. He was a sucker for sweets. “Okay, I hope you’re right about this!” Normally he’d be very eager to try out a new café or restaurant, but he knew Nagisa well enough to be wary when going to any unfamiliar places with him alone. 

“I am right. Now come on, it’s right over there,” Nagisa exclaimed, pointing to a cute little café up ahead. Aiichirou squinted up at the fancy cursive of the shop’s sign. Before he could read it though, Nagisa was yanking him inside with a small jingle of the bell above the door.

“Welcome to Krumb Kitten, how may I be of service?” a sweet young lady asked them upon entering. She wore cat ears, and a fake tail pinned to her skirt, which upon glancing around, seemed to be the uniform for all the waiters and waitresses here. 

“Krumb… K-Kitten?” Aiichirou repeated, suddenly fearful. He buried his face in his hands and groaned. Why out of all places did Nagisa have to choose a themed café? A cat theme no less. Ai knew it was unfair to expect Nagisa to know of his fear given that he had never exactly told anyone about it

“Yep~ Isn’t it cute?” Nagisa asked cheerfully. He gave the woman a bright smile and she returned it kindly before leading them over to a small table. She handed them two menus that listed various cakes, pastries, teas, juices, etc. 

Aiichirou buried his head in the tiny lavender menu, trying very hard not to look around him. He figured he could make it through this as long as there weren’t any actual cats around, though the very décor did still make him nervous.

He didn’t realize how long he had been staring blankly at the menu until Nagisa pulled it down and brought his face close to Ai’s own. “Hellooooo! The waiter is here, Ai-chan! What do you want?”

The silver haired teen jumped back in his chair, startled. “I, uh…” He hastily gave the menu a once over. “B-Blueberry tart and a green tea, please,” he said, picking the first things his eyes landed on. Then remembering he was being rude, Aiichirou looked up to apologize to the man. What little nervous breath he had in him fled in a rush.

“S-S-Sorry!” he stammered out, cheeks darkening as he stared at the tall handsome redhead. He wore a simple black and white uniform, with his red hair tied back in a small ponytail at the base of his neck. His eyes were a vibrant red that so entranced Aiichirou that it actually took the boy a minute to realize that he too wore cat ears like everyone else. Upon seeing those, he jumped again, and hit his knee on the table.

“Are you alright?” the beautiful waiter asked, raising a single eyebrow.

“Sorry, no, I mean yes! You’re fine- wait, no, I’m fine. You’re obviously okay, I didn’t mean-“ Aiichirou was beginning to ramble now. He was grateful when his friend cut him off with a loud laugh.

“Ahaha, you’re so silly, Ai-chan! He just like to joke around~” Nagisa told the waiter with a dismissive wave of his hand. The redheaded man shrugged as if it didn’t really matter to him anyway – and it probably didn’t – and walked away to retrieve their orders.

Both boys watched the waiter leave with plastered on smiles, and the second they were alone, Nagisa leaned over the table to hiss, “What was that all about?”

“I’m sorry, okay! I just… He surprised me is all,” Aiichirou shot back defensively. His lingering blush told the truth though, and he wasn’t at all surprised when Nagisa squinted suspiciously at him.

Nagisa suddenly gasped. “You think he’s cute, don’t you?” he squealed. “You liiiike him!”

Aiichirou clapped a hand over the blond’s mouth. “Shhhh!” He looked around to make sure they wouldn’t be heard. When he was certain no one was paying them any attention, he leaned in and mumbled, “Yeah, okay? I thought he was very handsome and I got kind of flustered…”

He conveniently left out the fact that he was already jittery because of all the cat references, but Nagisa didn’t need to know that. Having a crush on the waiter was way easier to explain and after they left, Nagisa wouldn’t be able to torment him like Aiichirou knew he would if he knew about the cats.

“Well, he is pretty attractive, isn’t he?” Nagisa commented with a thoughtful hum.

Aiichirou opened his mouth to agree, but a low clearing of the throat drew his attention. He and Nagisa drew away from each other with suspicious quickness.

The handsome waiter had returned with a tray. He gave them a strange, slightly amused look, but said nothing as he set down their plates. A fluffy piece of strawberry shortcake and a vanilla milkshake for Nagisa. The blueberry tart and steaming cup of green tea for Ai.

“Enjoy. If you need anything else, just call for me,” the redhead told them, tucking the tray under his arm and getting ready to walk off. Nagisa grabbed him before he could leave and quickly asked for his name. “Ah. I’m Rin,” he told them with a smile, gesturing briefly to his nametag. 

“Rin, huh?” Nagisa said, turning to waggle his eyebrows at his friend. Aiichirou snorted, causing Rin to look at him. Frazzled, Aiichirou reached for his tea cup to soothe his nerves.

Things only went downhill from there.

Sitting in his hot tea was a tiny kitten, designed to look as if it were relaxing in a hot springs. It was meant to be cute, but for Ai, having such a thing so close to his face when he least expected it was nothing short of terrifying. He yelped and hastily moved to set the cup down away from him, and ended up knocking it over in the process. Hot tea spilled over the lacey tablecloth and a stream of it trickled onto Ai’s pants. “Ah, hot, hot, hot!” he shrieked, jumping up, only to knock heads with Rin, who had leaned over to pat at the mess with a dishtowel.

“Shit, ow,” Rin hissed, recoiling. Aiichirou groaned, one hand clutching his head and the other still clumsily trying to pat at the tea on his pants.

Nagisa watched it all go down in seconds, and hurriedly stood in concern. “Ai-chan! Are you okay?” he asked, gathering up the napkins they had on hand and passing them to his friend.

“I’m… I’m fine,” Aiichirou bit out. He was pretty sure he was seeing stars, but at least they weren’t cats, he thought.

“Jeez, this is a big mess. I’m gonna go pay for our food and see if I can get some ice for you or something,” Nagisa told him, already knowing that no doubt Ai would want to leave after such an embarrassing ordeal. To his surprise, it wasn’t his silver haired buddy who answered, but Rin.

“No need. I’ll take him to the back and get him fixed up,” the redhead said, finally having straightened up. There was still a bright red mark on his forehead, but he no longer seemed to be in as much pain. Nagisa nodded to him and ran off, leaving his friend with the attractive waiter.

“Come on- Ai, was it? I’ll get you some ice.” Rin grabbed Aiichirou’s wrist and began gently tugging him towards an Employees Only door in the back of the café. Aiichirou looked back at the spilled tea they had left behind, but Rin waved off his concern, saying, “Don’t worry about the mess. I’ll clean it up once we make sure you’re okay.”

“I-I’m fine, really, I just-“

Rin cut him off with a sharp look. “You just had hot tea spill on you and you bumped your head. If it hurt half as much as it did for me, then you must be in pain.”

Oh. “…Sorry,” Aiichirou mumbled, looking down in shame. Not only had he made a huge fool of himself, but he had also hurt the handsome waiter in the process. 

They stopped and Rin walked away. Ai kept his head bowed, and it was only when Rin returned and he felt something cold being pressed to the back of his head that he looked up. Rin stared at him.

“You don’t have to apologize, okay?” he said, his smooth voice surprisingly gentle. Ai felt his face heat up again. Rin’s face was so close to his own. “But I do have a question though. Why are you so nervous? As soon as you entered, you seemed to hate it here. I know this theme stuff isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but you just seemed downright freaked out.”

Aiichirou cringed, and Rin lifted the ice bag, afraid that he was pressing too hard on the boy’s tender head.

“I… This is going to sound really silly, but… I’m sorta kinda… afraid of cats,” Aiichirou murmured, squeezing his eyes shut in embarrassment. What had possessed him to even confess his phobia in the first place?

He heard a soft chuckle come from Rin, and he opened one eye to see the waiter staring at him in amusement. “You’re right, that does sound silly, but I suppose that sort of thing can’t really be helped, can it? People have all sorts of weird phobias. That’s just you.”

Aiichirou immediately felt relieved. Somehow Rin had acknowledged his strange fear without making him feel like a weird person for having it. “Really?”

Rin nodded, and gently pressed the ice back onto the sore spot. “Yeah. But what I don’t get is if you’re so afraid of cats, why come to a cat café in the first place?”

“I didn’t know,” he replied, pouting a little. “My friend dragged me here without telling me.” At the mention of his friend, both of them paused to hear Nagisa calling out for Ai, telling him that he was ready to go.

“Well, that’s a shame,” Rin commented, handing the ice bag to Ai to keep. He turned and grabbed a small notepad and a pen, scribbling something down as he spoke. “If you ever wanna hang out in a place that isn’t so scary for you, just call and we’ll figure out a place.” He ripped out the sheet with his cell number on it and handed it to him.

“See ya around, Ai,” he said with a wink before giving Aiichirou a soft push out the door. The boy stumbled out, only to bump into Nagisa. 

“There you are! I’ve been looking for you. I paid and got our stuff wrapped up t- what’s that?” Nagisa promptly snatched the paper out of Aiichirou’s hand and gasped. “No way! He gave you his number?! Way to go, Ai-chan!” He nudged his friend playfully.

Aiichirou snatched the paper back, cheeks burning. That may have been quite possibly one of the most embarrassing experiences of his life, but at least something good had come out of that damn café. He pocketed the scrap of paper. Suddenly he wasn’t in as much pain anymore.


End file.
